Packaged item along with container for use therewith

ABSTRACT

A packaged item for display to a consumer including an item having a construction which comprises a selected material and a container receiving the item that is formed at least partially from a tactile panel that corresponds to the selected material. The packaged item may include a display card that includes indicia, such as an arrow, configured to draw the consumer&#39;s attention to the tactile panel whereby the consumer may perceive a tactile representation of the item without compromising integrity of the container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Each year a tremendous amount of resources are expended to promote and sell consumer goods and services. Indeed, many entities allocate money, personnel and devote other resources toward the packaging and display of goods so that they will be more appealing to would-be purchasers or other interested persons. In retail stores, for example, companies compete for optimum shelf space or display regions within the store which statistically attract more consumers.

While location within a store can be indispensable to the marketing of products to consumers, it is not the only consideration. The packaging of goods in a manner which is appealing to a consumer, coupled with a display campaign for maximizing exposure, can provide a competitive advantage. Among the various considerations involved in designing a well packaged product is to create a packaging design which both educates the consumer about the item he/she may wish to purchase, while at the same being easy to comprehend and not overwhelming. To this end, it is quite common to display the product itself on packaging, as well as illustrate the product in use and provide information about its various features. Another manner of displaying a product is to package it in such a way that the consumer can actually see the product through the packaging. For example, many goods are packaged in transparent or semi-transparent bags, or with viewing windows, to enable the consumer to actually visualize the product. Still another approach is to provide an opening through the packaging through which on can insert his/her hand and feel a material swatch of the product, such as one adhered to an insert card within a bag.

It is not uncommon for consumers who still remain curious as to what they may actually purchase to open packaged goods to actually feel or confirm the contents of the package. This is prevalent in the soft goods industry where the goods may be towels, sheets, linens, pillows, or the like. A particular segment of the soft goods market, commonly referred to as the baby soft goods market, is particularly susceptible to consumers who penetrate packaging. This is perhaps the case because parents are instinctively concerned about the quality of products which they buy for their children.

Once packaging has been penetrated, however, it can have a disheveled look or not be placed back on the display properly, thereby detracting from the original purpose of providing a presentation which is appealing to a would-be consumer. This can translate into lost sales. To combat this, such as in the soft goods market, manufacturers might neglect packaging altogether (e.g., towels, pillows) or provide an opening in the packaging so that a consumer can insert his/her hand and obtain a tactile representation of the product. Still another approach is to provide a packaging which can be easily opened and closed, such as through the use of a zipper, so that at least the risk of damage to the packaging is reduced if the consumer removes the product. Each of these approaches, however, has the attendant drawback that either the integrity of the packaging, its display, or the packaged item can be jeopardized.

Accordingly, there remains a need to provide a new and improved way of packaging certain types of goods, such as soft goods, in a way which enables a potential consumer to gain additional tactile knowledge about the packaged item without the risk of jeopardizing the integrity of the product itself, its display, or its container. These and other objects will become more readily appreciated and understood from a consideration of the following detailed description when taken together with the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY

Provided herein is a packaged item, such as a soft good, for display to a consumer including an item having a construction which comprises a selected material and a container receiving the item that is formed at least partially from a tactile panel that corresponds to the selected material. Also contemplated is a display container for displaying a packaged item to a consumer.

The container includes at least one viewing panel formed of a transparent material and the tactile panel may be formed of the selected material. The container may be in the form of a bag that includes a base panel and a closeable top panel; front and back panels; and first and second rectangular side panels. The item may be a soft good comprised of first and second materials such as fleece and nylon, for example. Accordingly, the first side panel may be formed from the first material and the second side panel may be formed from the second material. The container includes a closure releasably closing the container which may be any of a zipper, cooperative hook and loop materials, a snap fastener, or the like. The closeable top panel may also include a handle.

The packaged item may include a display card supported by the container and may be interposed between the viewing panel and the item. The display card includes indicia, such as an arrow, configured to draw the consumer's attention to the tactile panel whereby the consumer may perceive a tactile representation of the item without compromising integrity of the container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a packaged item;

FIG. 2 is an exploded front view of the packaged item in FIG. 1, and showing a portion of the item itself folded back to reveal its material construction;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the flexible bag for use in packaging the item of FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIGS. 4 a and 4 b are partial cross-sectional views of the flexible bag in FIG. 3 to illustrate representative panel portions thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Provided is a packaged item for display. The item can be displayed to a would-be buyer at a retail store or any other interested party such as at a tradeshow, during a presentation or any other venue where potential consumers or interested parties might be found. Also provided is a container for use in creating the packaged item. In the exemplary embodiments described herein, the item or good which is packaged is representatively illustrated as an infant car seat cover which is conveniently designed to provide comfort to an infant during travel. As such, the representative item falls broadly within the category of soft goods and more particularly within the category of baby soft goods. Of course, the ordinarily skilled artisan will appreciate from the description to follow that the concepts described herein can be applied to any of a variety of other soft goods (example linens, towels, pillows, etc.) as well as non-soft good items. Accordingly, the exemplary embodiment is for illustrative purposes only.

Initial reference is made to FIGS. 1 and 2 to show that packaged item 10 broadly comprises a container in the form of a flexible bag 20 having an interior 22 within which is received the infant car seat cover 30 in folded form. Since the item itself is representative, its particular construction need not be described in detail other than to explain that it is fabricated from at least one, and preferably, a plurality of different materials. For example, and without limitation, item 30 may have a water and wind resistant shell 32 made of polyester or nylon and a breathable soft fleece liner 34 (see FIG. 2).

Also provided is a display card 40 which may be inserted into the bag. Display card 40 has a front display panel 42 interposed between the carrier cover item 30 and the bag 20. Once inserted, the open end of the flexible bag may be releasably closed via a zipper construction 24 or other suitable closure means. Bag 20 also includes a handle 26 providing convenient handling of the packaged item as well as display of the packaged item on a peg hook, for example, so that it may be viewed by a would-be purchaser.

In the illustrated embodiment, flexible bag 20 is substantially made from a vinyl material. To this end, vinyl bag 20 includes a rectangular base panel 51, a rectangular and closeable top panel 52, left and right tactile side panels 53 and 54, respectively, and front and back panels 55 and 56, respectively.

As perhaps best shown in FIGS. 4 a and 4 b, the left and right tactile side panels 53 and 54 are not made from vinyl as are the other panels in the bag. Instead, these panels are fabricated from materials which correspond to those characteristic of the item itself. That is, left side panel 53 preferably comprises the same fleece interior material as the item 30, while right side panel preferably comprises the same material as the item's outer shell (i.e. polyester or nylon). As can be seen in various ones of the figures, the left and right side panels are sewn to the other portions of the bag to create seam margins.

With the above construction in mind for packaged item 10, it can appreciated that a would-be consumer, or other interested party, not only has the advantage of visually perceiving the item 30 through any of the transparent panels of the vinyl bag 20, but has the added ability to perceive a tactile representation of the product by feeling the left and right side panel materials. For convenience, the insert card 40 may have left and right arrows, 41 & 43, respectively, for directing the would-be purchaser to these two materials. Accordingly, the would-be purchaser or other interested party could gain additional knowledge about the good, preferably sufficient enough to make a purchasing decision, without the need to unzip the top of the bag and physically remove the item. In the event the consumer does not purchase the item, then its display characteristics have not been tampered with which will help to maintain the aesthetic appeal of a seller's display.

With an understanding of the above, it should be appreciated that various modifications or adaptations could be made to the packaged item without departing from the inventive concepts contained herein. For example, in other embodiments the container for the item could be flexible, rigid, semi-rigid or of any suitable construction for packaging a particular item. Advantageously, the container can have a viewing portion to allow a would-be consumer to visualize the packaged item, although this is certainly not necessary. Preferably, at least a portion of the package which is exposed to the consumer is formed from a material corresponding to at least one of the materials present in the item itself. Preferably, also, only a portion of the package has this characteristic, while a remainder of the package is of different, and preferably customary, packaging material, such as vinyl, corrugated board, cellophane or the like. The term “corresponds” in this context does not mean that the materials are necessarily identical, although this is preferred, but that they have sufficient characteristics such that the exterior material on the container has a tactile resemblance to material associated with the item itself. In an even more preferred form, there are a plurality of different materials which are exposed to the would-be purchaser and form at least one or more portions of the item's container, with each of these materials corresponding to a material characteristic of the item itself.

Accordingly, the present invention has been described with some degree of particularity directed to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention. It should be recognized, however, that the present invention is defined by the following claims construed in light of the prior art so that modifications or changes may be made to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention without departing from the inventive concepts contained herein. 

1. A packaged item for display to a consumer, comprising: a) an item having a construction which comprises a selected material; and b) a container receiving said item and formed at least partially from a tactile panel that corresponds to said selected material.
 2. A packaged item according to claim 1 wherein said tactile panel is formed of said selected material.
 3. A packaged item according to claim 1 wherein said container includes at least one viewing panel formed of a transparent material.
 4. A packaged item according to claim 1 wherein said container includes at least one viewing panel formed of a transparent material and said tactile panel is formed of said selected material.
 5. A packaged item according to claim 4 wherein said packaged item includes a display card interposed between said viewing panel and said item, wherein said display card includes indicia configured to draw the consumer's attention to said tactile panel whereby the consumer may perceive a tactile representation of the item without compromising integrity of said container.
 6. A packaged item according to claim 1 wherein said container includes a closure releasably closing said container.
 7. A packaged item according to claim 6 wherein said closure is selected from the group consisting of a zipper, cooperative hook and loop materials, and a snap fastener.
 8. A display container for displaying a soft good to a consumer, wherein said soft good includes a soft material, said display container comprising: a surrounding wall structure having an interior for receiving the soft good and including at least one tactile panel formed of said soft material and at least one viewing panel formed of a transparent material.
 9. A display container according to claim 8 including a display card interposed between said viewing panel and said soft good, wherein said display card includes indicia configured to draw the consumer's attention to said tactile panel whereby the consumer may perceive a tactile representation of the soft good without compromising integrity of said surrounding wall structure.
 10. A display container according to claim 8 wherein said surrounding sidewall structure includes a closeable opening for receiving said soft good into said interior.
 11. A display container according to claim 10 wherein said opening is releasably closed with a zipper.
 12. A packaged item for display to a consumer, comprising: a) a soft good having a construction which comprises a first material and a second material; b) a bag receiving said soft good in an interior thereof, said bag including: i) a base panel and a closeable top panel, ii) front and back panels; and iii) first and second side panels wherein said first side panel is formed from said first material and said second side panel is formed from said second material; and c) a display card supported by the bag that includes indicia configured to draw the consumer's attention to said first and second side panels whereby the consumer may perceive a tactile representation of the packaged item without compromising integrity of said bag.
 13. A packaged item according to claim 12 wherein said display card is interposed between said soft good and said front panel.
 14. A packaged item according to claim 12 wherein said front and back panels are formed from transparent vinyl.
 15. A packaged item according to claim 12 wherein said closeable top panel is releasably closed with a zipper.
 16. A packaged item according to claim 12 wherein said first and second side panels are rectangular.
 17. A packaged item according to claim 12 wherein said closeable top panel includes a handle.
 18. A packaged item according to claim 12 wherein said first material is fleece.
 19. A packaged item according to claim 12 wherein said second material is nylon shell.
 20. A packaged item according to claim 12 wherein said indicia includes at least one arrow. 